Rams Rival Hired Two of This Century's Worst Coaches

There have been a lot of bad coaches in the NFC West ever since the year 2000, and while the Rams have had to deal with their fair share of bad coaches, the 49ers, from the moment they fired Steve Mariucci till the moment Jim Harbaugh came through their doors and then once again from the moment they fired Harbaugh till about Kyle Shanahan's third year in charge, the 49ers have sucked.

They were bad, just straight up awful. It was genuinely disturbing how fast they would run through head coaches, and as a result of all the issues surrounding the organization, on CBS Sports' Cody Benjamin's piece ranking the top 25 worst coaches in the NFL from this century, two 49ers make the list.

Dennis Erickson, the man who replaced Mariucci, was ranked as the 13th worst head coach this century.

"It was always going to be tough to replace Steve Mariucci, who helped cultivate Hall of Fame talent and led four playoff runs in six seasons atop the 49ers," wrote Benjamin. "Choosing Erickson, who had managed a 31-33 mark in four years with the rival Seahawks, ended up setting the stage for a total teardown in San Francisco, with successor Mike Nolan infamously opting for Alex Smith over future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers in the 2005 NFL Draft."

Was there anywhere on the West Coast, outside of Los Angeles, that Dennis Erickson didn't coach? In his nearly 50 years as a coach, Erickson worked for Montana State, Idaho, Fresno State, San Jose State, Wyoming, Washington State, the Seattle Seahawks, Oregon State, the 49ers, Arizona State, and Utah, among others.

And for a large part, Erickson was highly successful, even winning two National Titles during his six-year stint as the head coach of the Miami Hurricanes, but the NFL just wasn't his speed. Erickson was meant to coach college, and his record proves it.

Not to be outdone, but Jim Tomsula's one season in charge has him ranked at six.

"San Francisco became an NFC powerhouse under Jim Harbaugh from 2011-2014. When a reported power struggle with 49ers brass resulted in his abrupt split, Tomsula was tasked with picking up the pieces, despite previously serving as the club's defensive line coach. And the wins weren't the only thing to decline, as his reportedly lax approach with practice and player discipline left San Francisco looking like a shell of itself both in performance and attitude."

Tomsula was everything Harbaugh wasn't, and as a result, the 49ers were no longer successful. Tomsula was lax, easy going, and did not instill the sense of commitment and discipline the 49ers had under Harbaugh.

However, if Tomsula was bad, going 5-11, his successor was worse, but he's not listed. Chip Kelly took over for Tomsula, went 2-14, and was also fired after one season, but in typical Jeff Fisher fashion, both of the 49ers' wins were against the Rams.

The good news for Tomsula is that he's building a dynasty in the European League of Football, having won the last two championships with the Reign Fire, going 23-1 with a 12-0 season during that stretch.